Tomorrow is my birthday. I love birthdays, mine or anyone else’s.
It’s thought that Ancient Romans were the first to celebrate birthdays for the average Joe. The Romans loved to celebrate life. They referred to the day of one’s birth as dies natalis, which translates quite literally to birthday.
Birthday celebrations weren’t reserved just for people, either. Cities, buildings, and famous people were often celebrated on the day they came to be. In fact, many public Roman holidays evolved as celebrations of the birth of important figures.
Unlike the parties we have today, Ancient Roman birthday celebrations were more of a religious experience. The birthday girl or boy would burn incense and prepare a sacrifice for their genius, or tutelary spirit, each year to ask for another year of protection from nefarious forces.
There were some similarities, though. They made special cakes, albeit ritual cakes. They wore a special white robe, so they dressed up as we might today in a sash or party hat. They involved their friends and family in the celebration. They might even receive gifts, though tradition dictated that the host (the birthday boy or girl) was more generous to guests than the guests were to them.
At first, only men’s birthdays were celebrated (natch), though that tradition evolved to encompass women’s births by about the 12th century. One of the first historical mentions of a birthday celebration comes out of Ancient Rome. Claudia Severa dictated a birthday party invitation to a friend and added well-wishes in her own hand in the Vinolanda tablets, which were discovered in Northern England.
My invitations won’t be on tablets. Or even on paper. Anyone who already doesn’t know it’s my birthday doesn’t need to be there.
Don’t forget to enter my Birthday Bash Giveaway! It ends tomorrow!
